


Turn the clock and flash the ring

by R_RK



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Allusion to an almost sexual assault or physical beating, F/F, Some Swearing, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 06:36:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_RK/pseuds/R_RK
Summary: Present meets future in a whirl of Blue and Purple. A pocket watch and pixie dust are NOT a good combination.





	Turn the clock and flash the ring

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
> 
>  
> 
> I should really not be allowed to write oneshots, because I intend for something small and it just keeps expending.  
> This was another prompt to Heart-Seoul-Soshi that I just had to write. I would love some feedback. Any mistakes are my own so please point them out.
> 
> There's an idea of the two colored hair that i got from a prompt someone anonymous asked of Heart-Seoul-Soshi.

It was a normal day in Auradon. Quiet. Unassuming. Really similar to a certain physicist before he got wacked by an apple. But Magic works in mysterious ways. After all, you don’t know when you’ll get knocked out by a juicy red poisonous apple or when you’ll get a _really_ close up look at the future; you’ll _wish_ you were poisoned, better a nice fainting death then a complete nervous breakdown. But sometimes the universe keeps shouting and when you still appear deaf to it, it’s time for a good ole shock to the heart; it really opens your eyes to the obvious.

 

* * *

 

 

Mal did not expect her world to be knocked off its ass, grow some wings and start slamming into her head to make her see double.

 _Really_ , she expected a boring day in the sunshiny utopia of Auradon, ignoring the fact that one got sunburnt with too much sun exposure. Made one _really_ unprepared in the face of a smack by the universe. With her Isle instincts screaming bloody murder at her for letting her guard down, it still didn’t make the day more believable, or bearable.

 

 

Well the day started normal at least. That was just a cold comfort for Mal; not very helpful.

Normal day. Normal classes. Normal lunch…

“We should really go into the city!”

Well maybe not that normal.

Mal turned to give Evie a squinty eyed _did you lose your mind_ look and braced herself for hearing loss.

“OHHH MY GOSH, PLEAAAAASE!!!!” Dizzy really had a set of lungs on her, errr in her. The little girl was practically vibrating in her seat, eagerly bouncing. She’d been joining them for lunch since coming to Auradon, still unfamiliar with everything and grasping for a safety net. Mal recalled it was one of her dreams to explore the city, so her enthusiasm was expected.

 _Dear hell, this is gonna be a mess_ , Mal lamented to herself.

“That’s a great idea Evie!”

Mal flashed Ben a furious _are **you** out of your freakin mind _ look. It was one of the rare times he was able to join them for lunch. He just tried for a confident charming smile falling short to a _please don’t kill me_ nervous flinch. It wasn’t really helping his case, but her attention was diverted by Evie grabbing her hand and flashing her a large puppy eyed pout.

“Come on M, we’ve been here for months and we still haven’t seen it. Can’t you just picture it: the roads, the shops, the _fashions_.” Evie had literal stars in her eyes. Well it was no wonder what got her starry eyed.

 _The pain. The torture,_ Mal privately contradicted.

“Pleaaaaase, Mal.” Dizzy joined Evie in her begging, hands clasped together, eyes wide behind her glasses and bottom lip trembling in plea.

Mal grimaced. Just because she was _good_ now, didn’t mean that she had any fondness for prissy pink princesses or sunshiny Auradon that cast shadows so large they formed an island. It also didn’t mean she developed any kind of defense against certain blue haired princesses with wide pleading brown eyes and pouty red lips, or paint splattered little girls in need of protection.

“You two do NOT get to gang up on me. You’re supposed to play fair here, it’s not the Isle anymore.” Mal determinedly turned away, facing away from both of them.

She studiously avoided her best friend’s eyes, lest she fall for her wicked charm. Dizzy was less likely to convince her, but she didn’t want to take any chances. There was no way she was going skipping down the rainbow road to find the lump of gold that was Auradon at the end of it.

Though she couldn’t stop herself from chancing a glance at Evie for just a single moment, but it was enough to break her resolve. She was never _really_ able to say no to her anyway.

“Ugh fine.” She groaned, closing her eyes in defeat.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!” Mal had no time to expect the little red projectile launching herself at her, almost toppling her from her seat, but she made sure to brace both of them, awkwardly patting Dizzy on the back.

Evie squealed in delight, clapping her hands in victory. “Yes, we’ll have so much fun Mal, we could even go by carriage ride-”

Mal interrupted that train wreck of an idea in its tracks. “Evie, I would do a lot for you, but you are NOT dragging me into the city in a carriage. And ALSO, if I’m going, so are you guys.” She violently pointed her finger at Jay and Carlos who were too busy tearing into their lunch to really contribute to the conversation.

“vy du ve hash do,” Jay choked out through his mouthful of food. Mal, who had unfortunately known him the longest, was fluent in stuffed-Jay-speak.

“Because I’m not suffering through this alone. And aren’t we _family_ ,” she chomped down on her last words viciously, “so if I’m going down, I’m taking you punks with me. Understand.”

The boys, knowing better not to actually provoke her, nodded their heads quickly, their cheeks still bulging, resisting the urge to salute her.

“Great, so you’ll drag your asses with us at…, wait when exactly are we going on this little thing.” She turned to Evie in question.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic M.” Evie rolled her eyes. “I was thinking we’d go after classes, they finish soon. Plus, it’s Friday we don’t really have to get up for school. Don’t you want a change of scenery?”

Well, she couldn’t deny _that_. “We already said yes, E.”

“I could even show you some of the nice spots, I don’t have any urgent duties. I could get away for a little while, but then I’d have to get back,” Ben chimed in cheerfully, looking as excited as Evie. If _he_ started clapping, then they’d be having serious problems.

“Then it’s settled, after classes. Come on M, Diz. _You_ , little missy are going to be late to Goodness Class,” she lightly scolded the little girl, tapping her on the nose, “and _we,”_ Evie pulled on Mal’s hand, urging her to get up, linking their arms together, “have Geography. Aren’t you the one always making plans to travel someday, M.”

“Bye boys,” Mal threw over her shoulder, guiding Dizzy in front of them, not able to hear their responses, her entire focus centered on Evie. At least some things were still Normal. “Well don’t tell me that you want to be stuck in one _goody_ place forever.” Her voice faded the further away they got.

“Do you think they’ll ever pay attention to anything beside each other and you know, _stop_ raising Dizzy together,” Carlos commented, once sure that the girls were far enough out of hearing range.

“I don’t think so. Sometimes I feel like Mal isn’t really dating me,” Ben noted, fork listlessly dangling his pasta over the chasm of his plate.

“Oh, buddy,” Jay condescendingly patted him on the back, “no one who really knows them, thinks you’re dating Mal.”

Ben just miserably sighed, not finding it in himself to disagree.

 

 

 _Well, it wasn’t **complete** torture_ , Mal thought, walking hand in hand with Evie along the sidewalk in the city, the boys trailing after them and Dizzy skipping ahead of them. _Nothing really is if Dizzy is skipping with joy and not running in fear, and with E beaming like that_. This was clearly Evie’s little pocket in the world- she looked like a child hopped up on candy, just like Dizzy. Mal’d seen a lot of those since coming to Auradon, nothing like the kids on the Isle; kids there were pumped up from adrenaline, escaping scrapes and fights- she’d learned _that_ in Biology.

Auradon could use some dark colors though. In her opinion you could only have so many pastels before it was overkill.

Something Evie obviously agreed with. Dizzy was thankfully out of earshot, else she’d have two voices ranting in her ear.

“Do they have _no_ taste, some colors just don’t go together! And don’t even get me started on their aversion to anything dark colored. I mean no offence M, but _you_ dress better than some of them,” she was ranting, words chasing after each other, trying to keep up in their race out of soft red lips.

“None taken,” Mal sarcastically drawled, not unused to the multiple offences against her wardrobe, accustomed to them since the Isle. Though she didn’t take it to heart, knowing that Evie _did_ appreciate most of her fashion choices.

“I mean they can change it up a little, we’ve been to a bunch of restaurants, dessert places and shops, and not one single person is edgy with their look _or_ their hair!”

“Weeell, not everyone can be as cool as us Evie, or as fashionable as you.” Mal absentmindedly patted the hand gripping the crook of her elbow.

Evie appeared to turn that over in her head, before finally conceding with a graceful shrug. “True.”

“Well not everyone is so boring guys,” Carlos interrupted them pointing his finger a little ahead, “that woman looks a lot like you Mal. Just look at her hair and her clothes.”

Mal followed his finger to the woman in question, who was leaning against the window of a wooden rustic tavern, a few feet from them.

She was dressed in purple leathers, what looked like a camping bag thrown over one shoulder. Her short hair was streaked with different shades of purple with a few blue streaks intertwined, obscuring her face from view. But she was obviously displeased with whatever she had in hand, if the way she was muttering under her breath was any indication.

It was the first time Mal saw a person in Auradon dressed like they were from the Isle, but the woman appeared normal, if irritated at one of her hands, the other busy juggling little flames between her fingers….

“WHAT THE HELL!”

Honestly Mal was as surprised as anyone else with the screech coming out of her, causing her friends to jump, Evie to flinch away from her and Dizzy to stop in her tracks, glancing back at them, alert. Evie motioned for her to come, gripping her shoulders, protectively.

The woman, on the other hand, snapped her head in their direction, body falling into a defensive stance, familiar acid green eyes flashing, with smoke curling around her nostrils.

Mal felt her eyes automatically respond, body mimicking the woman perfectly, stepping in front of Evie to shield her and Dizzy.

It was like two mirrors facing each other, maybe with one of them scratched, fogged, and tinted gold.

Their stand off came to a standstill, with a single breathed question.

“Mal?”

Two heads snapped to Evie, instinct guiding, to always protect the blue haired princess from either physical or emotional distress.

“E,” two soft voices rang out in perfect harmony, almost completely identical.

The air stood still, like the earth was holding its breath watching events unfold. Before it cracked with the snap of three heads.

Evie’s eyes kept jumping between mirrored images, until finally settling on the woman bearing striking resemblance to her best friend.

“M-Mal…?” she managed to get out in a barely audible voice.

The woman’s stance seemed to relax, her familiar green eyes narrowing in keen observation, flipping from one person to the other, before settling on Mal. Her body appeared to go slack with shock, even seeming to stutter on her breath.

“Either I’m dead and this is cruel and unusual punishment from Lucifer. Or I am _never_ allowed to pick a place off the map again and I’ll still be dead, cause she is going to _kill_ me,” the woman finally muttered in a voice so familiar, that it freaked Mal out even more.

That was _her_ voice, albeit lower, with a rumble behind the words, like there was a roar purring in her chest.

“Who the fuck are _you_?” Her voice trembled despite her best effort to coat it with bravado.

“Who do you fucking _think_ ,” came the sarcastic reply.

“Mal!” The scolding interrupted their inevitable fight. Evie was covering Dizzy’s ears- which was in Mal’s opinion useless, considering the kid probably heard worse from both her Grandmother and her mother- glaring between the two of them.

“Sorry E.”

“Sorry, honey.”

Multiple heads swerved to the older woman, all in various degrees of shock and confusion, Evie most of all. The woman seemed to pause herself, before leaning back against the wall, one hand in her pocket- the other still holding tight to the target of her ire- with a nonchalance so obviously fake, it was insulting.

Mal tried to collect herself, mouth opening to grill the woman before deciding it was best for her sanity to ignore that. She barreled over any questions, especially her own, before anyone could voice them. “Seriously tell us who you are.”

“Guess Denial really isn’t just a river,” the woman stated dryly, with the most **done** expression on her face, like teenagers threatened her on a daily basis.

“What?” it echoed from different people to create a disjointed noise.

“Well you know, on my travels I came across a beautiful river. Really, breathtaking. The folks called it De Nile. There were rumors that poor sad souls filled it with their tears of despair and denial until they shriveled up into empty husks that deformed to make the banks of the river,” she commented, contemplating the sky like she was just giving them the weather report and not talking about their various degrees in unawareness, nor of body fluids creating bodies of water and decomposed bodies making the banks of said bodies of water.

“Really????” Dizzy squealed in fear clutching tighter to Evie.

The woman turned her eyes to her, expression softening with surprise. “Course I’m kidding munchkin, though there really is a river of De Nile. Its story isn’t quite so morbid, though.”

Dizzy relaxed, crossing her arms and looking at her in annoyance, poking the purple elephant lurking in the shadows of the conversation. “You obviously haven’t changed.”

“Well lookie here, _someone_ acknowledges it,” the not-so-stranger crowed, delighted to happily paint the elephant in splotches of blue in messy, broad strokes. “And it’s the munchkin who’s been taller than me for a while and is currently all you people’s age.”

“Yeah??!!!” Dizzy stopped her excited question, cocking her head like a puppy. “But then how old are you?”

“I’m sure you can do the math.” She winked at her before muttering clearly, “I feel old enough already.”

Mal got tired of the delayed small talk, stepping forward and once again demanding the identity of the woman.

“Still denying it?” It was clear the woman was similarly fed up with what she saw as deliberate obtuseness, looking seconds away from lighting them all on fire, before a soft voice stopped her.

“Please we need it said loud and clear,” Evie quietly pleaded.

The woman took a deep breath, appearing to find her calm staring at Evie. “Alright. As you wish, my dear Princess.” She bowed low at the waist, one arm across her chest and the other extending outward with a flourish.

“My name is Mal, daughter of Maleficent. And I am twenty-four years old.” She looked up to greet them with familiar green eyes and an equally familiar wicked smile.

 

* * *

 

Twenty-four-year-old Mal did not expect to be woken this fine morn to a flash from the past, then again, she did not expect a lot of things- her love life for example. Her Isle instincts _definitely_ needed sharp tuning, else she’ll succumb to something stupid, like _shock_ or _stress_. What a way to go _that_ would be.

 _Evie is NOT going to be happy. And I’m getting a big fat ‘I Told You So’. Ugh, stupid pixie dust field that no one knew about and stupid rune engraved fairy pocket watch,_ Mal spitefully thought.

She straightened from her bow, pocketing the watch still clutched in her hand, and carefully observing her literal past.

_When they say the past haunts you, this was NOT what I had in mind. Well at least we all aged gracefully. There were no doubts about E though._

Seeing a younger version of all her friends was filling her with the overwhelming urge to mess up all their hair and coddle Evie and Dizzy, but she valiantly resisted.

_I am rotten, well not **really,** but I will still not cuddle in the middle of the street._

“Well?” She spread her arms in a gesture of surrender, like she was offering herself for further dissection. “What do you all think?”

She noticed her younger self’s intense scrutiny. No surprise there, it wasn’t everyday you got to see how you literally grew to be. Then again it wasn’t everyday you relived, in the true sense of the word, your past. She seemed to also have lost her previous hostility, cocking her head to the side and watching her with studious intensity.

Jay and Carlos were watching her with rapt attention, obviously cataloguing the differences and seeming to approve.

Ben looked at her with glazed eyes, stunned and flushed.

_Ugh, did I have to go back to this ill-advised time of my life. Now E really **is** going to kill me._

Speaking of Evie, her younger self was looking at her with an expression she recognized, and it warmed her up inside to see that familiar expression of love and attraction on the seventeen-year-old version of her best friend.

“Look Mal, you got taller!” It was unsurprisingly Dizzy who voiced her thoughts, though the fact that it was her height she decided to comment on was worrying.

It was true she was now just a little bit taller than the younger Evie. Her younger self seemed to have noticed too, looking excited for the first time since their meeting.

“Hey Mal, I think this is the only time we’ve ever seen you be taller than Evie.” Jay teasingly poked their Mal in the back, causing her to glare at him from over her shoulder, not wanting to take her eyes off the still surreal sight of a future her.

“Probably the last too.” The other Mal reminded them of her existence. “I wasn’t the only one who got taller. So, kind of the like nothing really changed, weirdly enough. I think the only reason it happened was that I was more in touch with my human side. Magic’s weird, man.”

“How did you get here anyway?” Carlos asked the most pressing question.

“Figured you’d be the first to time travel, if it came down to it,” she absently mused, unintentionally avoiding answering him.

“Me?”

“You would have built a time machine and maybe gone back to punch Mister Bigot in the face.” She tried to be vague for Ben’s sake, but the rest of the VKs understood her point.

“But anyway, apparently seeing the world involves a magical field no one knew about and time travel by pocket watch,” she finally explained wryly, flicking little fireballs with her thumb like marbles, dancing them around her knuckles.

Ben, upon seeing the blatant display of magic, finally interjected, displeased. “Didn’t you give back your spellbook? You shouldn’t be doing any magic, Mal!”

Both Mals turned to him, furious, but it was the time traveler that practically hissed at him. “I am naturally made of magic and I don’t need a measly spellbook to practice. And you are NOT my boss, no matter if you’re king or not. You really want me to cut off part of myself?!! When you're restricting magic, you're demanding lots of people to cut off a limb, and that is NOT okay! I’ve been developing my magic over the years in different ways and with different teachers, and they were all forced into hiding themselves, like they were abominations inflicted on the world! Your father allowed their mistreatment, this inhuman discrimination that has no place in a place where everyone preaches about their _goodness_!” She thrust her finger at him, green eyes glowing, ready to spit fire.

“Magic is frowned upon here and for good reasons Mal!” He couldn’t keep the condescension from his tone, unconsciously digging his grave and throwing himself in it.

“Yeah, well so are clouds, but they still water your crops. This whole kingdom is filled with filthy hypocrites.” She scoffed, utterly disgusted.

“Hey guys, how bout we don’t get into this, because I know you can do this for hours,” Carlos interjected, wanting to avoid waking the not-so-sleeping dragon.

“Hours?” Dizzy asked in an inquiring murmur.

“He means that literally. It happened,” Jay answered her in a side tone.

“What do you mean ‘travel the world’, M?” That question effectively stopped all chatter, still causing some initial confusion over the addressed person, before the older Mal turned to Evie with an inquisitive ‘Hmmm’, green eyes still so piercing.

“Aren’t you happy in Auradon, Mal. Why would you leave?” Ben’s words were like whips of accusation against her scales, not even giving her the courtesy of replying calmly. She felt her dragon quiver with rage inside her, but she took several deep breaths and swallowed the fire on her tongue, to breath out the smoke from her nose.

“Did you expect one trip back to the Isle to magically fix all my problems. Weren’t you damning magic just a second ago! Of course I wouldn’t want to stay in Auradon forever, do you want me to tell you all the things wrong with life here. So many, many issues that need to be eliminated and fixed.” She had no time for petty squabbles with a king not yet made aware. He might be her dear friend, but ignorance and arrogance were poor colors on him, un-matching to either his personality or skin tone.

“You know it was because of this ‘there are no problems in Auradon’ position that it took us years to put a word to what we went through on the Isle. Abuse,” she made sure to make eye contact with all the VKs, “like Cinderella and Snow White but much more potent. Snow’s villain went on to torment her own daughter,” she watched her younger self encircle her arm around Evie in comfort. “Homelessness, like Aladdin but not _one_ of the Isle kids ever had a genie who wasn’t stealing from them. And all of this was the _least_ of our problems. It’s been years and we still haven’t completely healed.”

“Do you hate me, Mal?” Ben asked her in a wounded voice.

She was definitely surprised, but she could see how he got that impression. “Oh no, I don’t _hate_ you. Fortunately, you were able to wise up after a while about these issues. And you’ve been working on dispelling your father’s attitude towards magic, which is a plus.”

“So, you don’t hate me?” He just wanted to be sure.

“Course not. We’re closer than ever. But let me tell you that happens when I am no longer pretending to be anywhere near a Lady.”

“What do you mean by _that_?”

Mal expelled an exasperated sigh. “Looks like you need it spelled out. Well, lets just say you make a better friend than a boyfriend, Benny-Bou.”

“Wait, you broke up?” Evie was the one who asked, looking a mixture of relieved- with no idea why- and comforting, reaching out a hand to her best friend.

“What! Why?” Ben looked torn between pleading, heartbroken and understanding.

“Do you want an alphabetized list?” She was beyond over this conversation. “Mal, maybe you should do it soon, I can’t even remember when I ended it, but all that pressure is _not_ good for you,” she advised her younger self, pointedly not looking at her ex.

“You want her to break up with me? Right now? Aren’t we good together?” Ben was incredulous.

Even Dizzy gave him a disbelieving look at that.

“We started our relationship with a _love potion_ , Ben. And it would have been fine, if you made it clear to me that what I did was bad, but you were okay with it! You should have all taught me that it was wrong, but no one DID!” She waved her arms wildly, fingertips sparking.

“Shouldn’t you have known?” It was a weak argument, and even he knew it.

“Who would have taught me, my _mother_! No, we weren’t good together, Ben. Trust me we’re better off as friends, and my younger self would agree.” She indicated Mal with a nod of her head, who appeared very unthankful for the attention.

Ben looked ready to question his girlfriend, but she continued before he could, “And I think you agree too, Ben.”

He opened his mouth to argue more, but closed it, resigned to the truth he knew, and nodded in agreement.

“Wait, did you just break up with him for me?” Her younger self was rightfully confused.

She, on the other hand, couldn’t even give a damn. “Guess so.” She shrugged, wholly unconcerned.

“Well alright, not how I was expecting my afternoon to go,” Ben mumbled, resigned but unsurprised.

“Okay so can we stop talking about it, then?” She looked at all of them in turn and waited for their nods. “Good, because I don’t like remembering that ill-advised part of my life. Sooo much stress and pretending,” she muttered more to herself than anyone else, pinching the bridge of her nose with her bare left hand inadvertently flashing the golden band on her finger.

 

“You’re MARRIED??!!” It was Dizzy who decided to point out the obvious with a squeak somewhere between excited and flabbergasted, the previous conversation all but forgotten.

 

Time stood still. Everyone seemed to stop breathing. Mal froze with her fingers still holding her nose. She slowly lifted her eyes to Dizzy then sluggishly looked at her left hand, where sure enough was her wedding ring.

 

“Well fuck.” She felt those words described the situation perfectly.

That certainly broke the spell on Evie. “MAL!” she scolded her, scandalized, clapping her hands over Dizzy’s ears.

“Sorry, honey.” It was habit that drove her to give that foolish response, causing her to immediately tense afterwards.

There was a slow realization creeping over the edges of everyone’s psyches, but before anyone could fully grasp it, they were interrupted by the booming sound of a ringing bell in the otherwise deafening silence. They all turned to the door of the tavern to find a woman with her nose buried in a newspaper.

“I have some bad news, sweetie,” she addressed this to Mal, not yet aware of their pasts literally two steps away. She lowered the paper to give Mal a sweet little peck, gifting her with a tender loving smile that was immediately returned. Mal almost forgot about the teens she was just arguing with, until…

“What the actual fuck.” The breathed profanity came from her younger self, looking paler than ever and a second away from having a heart attack. The others weren’t faring much better either, with their jaws dropped and a seeming lack of air. It was a testament to how out of it she was, that Evie didn’t even scold her best friend, her grip on Dizzy the only thing appearing to hold her up.

All of them were staring at the woman who cuddled up to Mal’s side and had Mal’s arm encircling her. Familiar blue hair fell over graceful shoulders, sparsely streaked with shades of dark purple. She was also dressed in blue leathers, the color certainly complementing her complexion, with high heeled boots adding to her height. The newspaper that she was reading from was rolled in one hand, while the other played with Mal’s hair. With a small nudge and head tilt from Mal, she turned her head and familiar warm brown eyes bore into them with an intensity they were used to.

While the woman didn’t look nearly as surprised as Mal was upon first meeting them, she seemed to pause, do a double take, and scan them with observant eyes.

“Huh. Well looks like you don’t need me to tell you the bad news, M,” the clearly older version of Evie intoned in an amused familiar tone, squeezing Mal closer to her.

“No, the bad news just grew legs and decided to approach me,” Mal deadpanned in return.

“Oh, you hush.” There was no real reprimand in her words, just fond exasperation while she gently nudged her nose against the top of Mal’s head.

It appeared that the teens would not be recovering any time soon. All frozen like very dumb, though very pretty statues, except for Dizzy.

“ARE YOU CHEATING ON YOUR SPOUSE?!”

Mal and Evie flinched back, unused to the loud screech- _their_ Dizzy had generally calmed down. They quickly recovered, though.

“Yeah, Mal, are you cheating on me?” Evie was beyond amused, tangling her left hand with Mal’s left hand, matching rings clinking together.

That appeared to freeze Dizzy, too. Not any closer to recovery than any of the others, who looked closer to Evie’s hair color than was healthy.

“Well as long as they’re statutes, can I keep younger you,” Mal mused, seriously considering stealing the younger Evie and Dizzy.

“Mal, no, you can’t _steal_ me.” Evie couldn’t help but laugh, used to the weird thoughts and urges normally plaguing her wife.

“Awww. Can I at least melt them?”

“No!”

“But, they are literally frozen, Princess! Maybe some fire will warm them up.”

“No! I don’t think this is what people meant when they advised to burn the past, Mal!”

“When did you stop being fun.”

“You put that pout away. And that’s not what you said just last night,” this was drawled with a sly smirk dripping of so much suggestion, that it flooded Mal’s face a vivid red.

“Okay, we have kids here!” The younger Evie unfroze to interrupt the inappropriate conversation that she never thought would _ever_ take place between any version of her and her best friend.

Mal and Evie stopped their playful banter, that had them nose to nose, to turn to her, appearing sheepish but unrepentant.

“How did this happen?!” she squeaked out in a high-pitched voice, on the verge of completely freaking out, waving at them with sweeping gestures.

“Yeah, we thought you’d _never_ figure it out.” Jay pointed between them with a shaking finger, torn between disbelief and jubilation.

“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Carlos muttered reproachingly as their Mal and Evie whirled on them with a harmonized shrieking ‘WHAT?!’

“Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t mean anything bad by it.” Jay held out his hands placatingly, trying to calm the fire in their eyes- if he couldn’t deal with one of them furious, he couldn’t deal with both.

“Don’t try it Jay, it’s not going to work,” Mal called out to him, knowing personally how much it would take for both of them to get their heads on straight, er well not _straight_. “Only, well, _time_ will help.” She couldn’t help scoffing at the word; time was the leading cause of their current problems.

“Come on sweetie we weren’t _that_ bad.” Evie comfortingly trailed her fingers along her spine.

Mal threw her a completely disbelieving look that practically screamed _I love you, but are you crazy!_

“Alright, okay, we were, but eventually, we figured it out,” Evie amended thinking of all they had to go through to actually get there.

She now had everyone’s attention, thankfully saving Jay from a brutal beatdown.

“How _did_ this happen?” Ben asked, curious despite himself.

Evie turned expectantly to her wife.

“What you want _me_ to tell it?” Mal gawked at her, while Evie tilted her head pointedly.

“But you’re better with words!”

Evie just gave her a _look_ and she caved like a house of cards.

“Ughh! Fine!” Mal turned to the kids, leaning more of her weight on Evie, completely at ease, something they haven’t seen on Mal in ages.

“Like I said, I don’t remember breaking up with Ben,” she absentmindedly willed colorful flowers into her right hand, left one still presently occupied, “but Evie and I took the _really_ scenic route, if you will.” Seeing the questioning look on everyone’s face, she decided to elaborate. “It took us years and years of natural progression until we even began dating.” She finally settled on a lavender, which she plucked and gently tucked behind Evie’s ear, the color a nice offset to the deep blue.

Evie just turned a soft red, bringing halting fingers to the flower, and ghosting a kiss over her wife’s temple.

No one dared interrupt the tender moment, feeling like they were intruding on a private moment. Mal in particular, couldn’t believe the peaceful, loving look on her future self’s face. She desperately avoided looking her best friend’s way, thus missing the dazed look on Evie’s face.

“We got even closer along the years before we admitted any kind of feelings to ourselves, let alone each other. We needed a lot of healing before we were able to, but I’m glad we made it, Princess,” Mal continued their story, tenderly fixing Evie’s hair behind the flower, running her thumb softly over her cheek.

“Me too, M.” Evie leaned into her touch, closing her eyes to savor it.

“So, when did you get together, exactly?” Mal quietly broke the adults’ moment, an unknown ache forming in her chest.

“Oh, it wasn’t until we were twenty.” It was Evie who answered.

“Little miss Genius here, was triple majoring in Fashion, Business and Chemistry.” Mal proudly showed her off, causing Evie to scoff and nudge her to ‘stop exaggerating’.

“What were _you_ doing Mal?” Carlos questioned her.

“I didn’t exactly know what to do, so I took some time off before doing an art major in University. Joined the Guard and trained them how to fight like an Isle person.”

“They all terrify everyone, don’t they.” Jay shook his head wryly.

“Hey! That’s-”

“Accurate,” Evie cut her off, gently knocking their heads together.

“Well, yeah, alright,” she conceded with a helpless shrug, burrowing herself closer to the taller woman. “Kind of got into a bad scrape once, when I was with the Guard, which was what really started our relationship.”

“A bad scrape,” Evie intoned, incredulous, verging on outraged. “I had to hear you were in the hospital because of blood loss and they contacted me because I was your emergency contact! You were in there because you were stupidly heroic!” She almost wrenched herself away from Mal, who just tightened her hold on her.

“You’re exaggerating, Princess. It wasn’t anything heroic.”

“You fought off four guys from attacking a helpless girl, which no one expected because this was ‘Auradon’, I’m pretty sure that was heroic.”

Everyone looked suitably impressed, glancing at a red-faced Mal.

“At least it made them up security,” she conceded.

“Then what happened,” Carlos urged them to continue the story.

“What happens when you almost lose someone you love?” Evie asked them rhetorically, gazed locked with Mal.

“Scared off a few years of my life, when she yelled at me, then kissed me. So, I can’t really say I regret getting hurt.” Mal smiled softly at her wife.

“I would have preferred it didn’t require you to be hurt, but I don’t regret the outcome one bit.” Evie smoothed her thumb over Mal’s chin and bottom lip, leaning closer and ever closer, before changing course and pressing a lingering kiss on her nose.

They breathed each other in for a lasting moment, while everyone looked away to give them privacy, except for their younger selves, looking at the intimate moment with a growing yearning in their hearts.

“What happened to both your hair?” Evie asked them, after they separated, curious about her color and her best friend’s color existing in both of them.

“Our magic developed with our relationship and it decided to proclaim our relationship in broad strokes of color. So this is kind of permanent,” Evie answered her younger self, not at all perturbed by it.

“I always loved carrying a piece of you with me, when we were away from each other,” Mal confessed in a quiet yet clear voice, causing Evie to turn her head to look at her, brushing the lengths of their noses together.

“Me too.” They took a moment to just stare at each other, before they were brought out of their own little world.

“Alright, what’s with all the PDA? Even our Mal and Evie aren’t like this.” Carlos decided to finally pose his burning question.

The women looked to him without moving, looking cozy as ever.

“This is our Honeymoon,” Mal revealed with a shrug.

“Awwww, really??!! What have you been doing?” Dizzy gushed at them, clasped hands held tight to her heart.

“I’ve always wanted to see the world, but not alone, hence our little hiking trips with a complementary dragon plane!”

“Yeah, it was going great. Until _someone_ decided it was a great idea to pick a place to land that _wasn’t_ on the map, and we had to hike in a pixie dust infested field.” Evie threw a pointed glare at her wife.

“How was I to know! No one reported it, and it wasn’t mentioned in the listed magical places of Auradon!” Mal threw her arms up in exasperation, dislodging Evie, who just crossed her arms and jutted out her hip, looking ready to argue.

“So you hopped on the magical pixie dust train to the past?” Ben asked them, perplexed.

“No.” Mal scoffed, fishing into her pocket and extracting a golden pocket watch with runes engraved on the cover in an incomprehensible language. “This is a fairy enchanted watch. I got it from an obscure shop early in our travels. Its magic called to mine, and pixie dust did _not_ mix well with it. Obviously. You can say the rest is literal history.” She violently rolled her eyes, frustrated with the whole situation.

“Maybe we should take you to Fairy Godmother, Mal. I’m sure she can help,” Ben offered, concerned.

“We can’t let anyone else see us Ben. Or our future will be affected. Do you want it to be- actually don’t answered that.” She held up a hand to stall his answer making him close his mouth. “Anyway, I was just figuring it out.”

“Then why didn’t you already use it?” Carlos asked her, ever the logical one.

“You can’t do something before you’re aware of your situation. That’s why Evie got a newspaper, to find it out. Recon was the most important part of any mission. Don’t you remember that?”

The VKs remembered that all too well.

“So, did you find anything, sweetie?” Evie put her chin on her shoulder, breathing her in.

“I just had to magically probe the watch, figure out how it works. Hope you didn’t clean your clothes from any pixie dust, Princess, we’re going to need it.”

“So we can go back?” she asked her hopefully.

“Course, but,” here Mal regretfully turned to their past, “we’re going to have to memory spell you.”

“Why?” her younger self asked, a plea in her eyes.

“So the future can happen. Don’t you want it to happen? Don’t answer that, Ben.”

He immediately stopped trying to speak.

Everyone else nodded, eager for a peaceful, happy future with two members of their family married and in love.

“Are you all ready?”

Once she got their reluctant nods, she breathed in deep, closed her eyes and raised her hands. Upon opening her eyes, they glowed a deep emerald green.

“It’s better if you all close your eyes, it’ll be easier that way,” she advised them.

They only closed their eyes once they all said goodbye to both her and Evie, though both their younger selves delayed it as much as possible, longing painting their faces in anguish. Mal exchanged glances with Evie who, without word, went to their younger selves, with a few last comforting words whispered in their ears.

“Don’t worry, this is your future. It will happen in its own time and without any rush. You’ll both be so _so_ happy when it does, so enjoy your time together.”

Once Evie rejoined her side, embracing her in a side hug, she began chanting in an old language no one could understand. When she finished, green smoke enveloped them all, some traveling to the tavern to affect those who’d seen Evie, the rest affecting the VKs and Ben.

Mal turned to Evie, enveloping her in her arms. “You ready?”

“Always.”

“Good.” She feathered a kiss over the soft red ones in front of her.

“But next time, I’m picking the location,” Evie whispered onto her lips, teasing her in all kinds of wicked ways.

“You’re never going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.” Evie shook her head, wicked delight gleaming in her eyes.

“Ughhhhhh.” Mal groaned, leaning her forehead on her wife’s, before they faded with the wind and everyone’s memories.

 

* * *

 

Mal blinked against the blinding sun, wondering why her and all her friends were standing like idiots in the middle of the sidewalk, and wondering why Ben was even here to begin with.

“Ben, I thought we agreed we needed space to heal and to become friends again.” She didn’t think he’d be the clingy type.

Ben just blinked in confusion for a bit, looking around, then focusing on her again. “We…did…I’m sorry Mal, I’ll just head back to my office.” He gestured vaguely behind him, throwing her an embarrassed smile, turning around and briskly walking off calling a ‘Bye guys’ over his shoulder, back straight, head high, every inch the commanding King.

Everyone paused for a bit, an emptiness presiding over them. Evie nudged Dizzy forward. “Go on Diz, if you find an ice cream parlor, we can stop there.”

The little girl’s eyes lit up. “ICE CREAM!” She went skipping ahead of them without a care in the world- hard to believe she was an Isle kid.

“Hey guys, could you keep an eye on her.” Evie subtly indicated Mal with her eyes, silently asking for some privacy.

The boys didn’t need much prompting to understand, following Dizzy and leaving them alone.

Mal didn’t pay them much mind, her eyes fixed on the sky. She felt an arm snake around her shoulders, unconsciously wrapping her own arm around her best friend’s waist.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Evie quietly offered her, not pushing, just offering an ear to listen.

“I feel…free, for the first time in months.” Mal finally turned her eyes to the blue haired princess, finding her with soft eyes and a gentle smile.

“Free?”

“No more pressure. I can finally breathe. No more Lady, just…Mal.” She breathed in a cleansing air, slowly exhaling it, like she was releasing months of pent up pressure and emotions, an invisible weight falling off her spine, relaxing her shoulders and her face into an expression of content.

“I happen to prefer just Mal.” Evie squeezed her shoulders.

“Me, too.”

“So, you’re okay?” Evie just had to be certain.

“No worries, E. I feel great.” Mal smiled her thanks to her best friend, before her expression morphed to confusion. “Though for the life of me, I can’t remember how I broke up with him.”

“Huh. I can’t either.” They just stood there blinking at each other in confusion, before a yell up ahead detracted their train of thought.

“ICE CREAAAAAAAM!”

“We should probably head over, before they kick poor Dizzy out.” Evie exchanged a helpless smile with her.

“Probably.” Mal gave a little shrug, offering Evie her arm. Evie giggled before taking hold of the crook of her elbow, starting them on a leisurely stroll.

Mal wondered about the warm feeling in her chest- like her dragon was curling into a ball and purring like a giant cat- while looking at Evie in the setting sun, her hair alighting a blue fire and brown eyes softening to melted chocolate. But Mal could not understand the reason for her sappy thoughts and the peace in her heart- it eluded her like slippery soap.

She pondered over the circling thought in her head. _This is your future_. She thought she could feel the ghost of a weight around her left ring finger, but upon glancing at it, she found it bare- something that filled her with an aching emptiness and heavy yearning. Before she could think more on it, she found herself distracted.

 

“COME ON, EVIE, MAL! ICE CREAM!!!!!”

 

Well, she could always leave it to contemplate for another day. After all. She had time.


End file.
